About the Parliamentary Library

Parliamentary Handbook

The Parliamentary Library publishes the Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Parliamentary Handbook covers many aspects of the Commonwealth Parliament and the Australian political system and is published each Parliament. The first handbook was published in 1915 at the request of the Joint Library Committee. The full text of the handbook has been available online since 1999 on the Parliament’s web site.

Administration

The Parliamentary Library is part of the Department of Parliamentary Services and provides services to senators, members, their staff, the staff of parliamentary departments and the Governor-General. The first library services were delivered to federal parliament in 1901 and continue to provide significant support to parliament and the democratic process.